Alternate Courses
by Acacia Jules
Summary: AU Movie Fic. What if the X-Men hadn’t shown up on time, and Logan didn’t get knocked out by Sabertooth? What would have happened to him and Marie? Wolverine/Rogue [I'm BACK! Currently reworking the story, for your enjoyment]
1. First Touches

Title: Alternate Courses   
Name: Jules

E-mail: goddessacacia@hotmail.com   
Rating: PG-15  
Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own any of the characters, no matter how much I WISH I did. They belong to the wonderful MARVEL and FOX  
Classification: Angst/Romance  
Summary: AU Movie Fic. What if the X-Men hadn't shown up on time, and Logan didn't get knocked out by Sabertooth? What would have happened to him and Marie?  Wolverine/Rogue

Status: Unfinished

~ Author's Note: I've been thinking about this a lot, and for it to be snowing in Upper Canada where Logan and Marie were, yet warm enough for Marie to go without a coat at Xavier's it has to be either early Spring or late Fall . . . I've decided to make it about October. ~ 

**Alternate Courses**

_By Jules_

**_Chapter   1_**

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Marie screamed as the tree fell in front of the truck. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. She was only aware of a few things happening, especially the seatbelt digging hard into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her, as the truck was brought to a crashing stop: the sound of glass breaking filled the air as Logan shot out through the windshield, and the pain in her stomach caused by the seatbelt  . . . . . . 

Logan's lit cigar flew into the back and onto a pile of clothes, which began to smolder. 

Marie watched in dazed fascination as Logan got up, took several shaky steps and simply shook off the pain of the crash. Behind her seat though, the smoldering clothes silently burst into flames, Marie completely unaware of the impending danger. 

Her eyes grew wide at the sight of the abrasion on his forehead quickly closing together. 

"Are you alright?" Logan called out to her.

Marie was too stunned to answer.

"Kid, are you alright?" He demanded. 

"Ah'm stuck!"

Logan started towards her, then noticed how the tree trunk looked like it hadn't fallen by chance, and caught the scent of something dangerous in the air. Without warning, an enormous man leaped out of the trees roaring like some kind of huge cat/man, engaging Logan in battle. 

Marie watched in fear and horror as the two animalistic men engaged in a deadly battle with each other. 

Her attention was drawn away from the fight however, when she became aware of the intense heat coming from behind her. Marie looked back into the trailer and noticed the flames that were quickly spreading. She began to struggle with her seat more as the fire quickly spread. Marie watched the two men, in panic, out of the corner of her eye; she knew the fire was growing closer, and that she was very stuck. Logan was her only hope. 

The towering man whacked Logan with a tree, sending the smaller man crashing to the hood of the car.

Marie caught sight of the man who had attacked them begin to head her way. Her stomach was killing her, but she knew she had to get out of there, so she kept tugging at the seatbelt. Logan was unconscious on the windshield, and that big- thing- was getting closer. The damn seatbelt however just wouldn't come loose!

The hairy creature ripped off the door, and tore her seatbelt from the buckle, also tearing it from the seat. She began to shriek, loudly, but a backhand to the face shut her up. He then swung her over his shoulder, hard. A jolt of pain ripped through her body and merciful unconsciousness enveloped her. 

Logan woke on the hood, only to see the creature beginning to walk off with the girl. Something he'd never felt before inside of him flared up. His claws came out again, and he attacked, sinking his claws in between its 3rd and 4th ribs in its back. 

The creature roared, and threw Marie off to the side. Logan quickly sunk his claws back in, up to the knuckle, in the things stomach. The furred, mammoth sized man looked down in odd surprise, he roared in anger once more, and then took off, back into the woods.

Logan was about chase after him, when he smelled the smoke, and he realized that the trailer was burning He hurried over, and unhitched the trailer, pushing it far away and he managed to throw his body over the girls just seconds before the fire reached the propane tank and exploded. 

**** Several minutes later ****

Logan slowly regained consciousness, very aware of the body partially beneath him, and rolled off of the petite girl. 

Logan repeated his question from before, "Kid, are you alright?" 

There was no response.

"Kid? . . . Marie?" He tried her real name, but still got no response

He got up and rolled the girl's unmoving body on her back. Her eyes were closed, and there was a gash on her forehead, "Shit."

With a bit of gentle shaking, finally her eyes started to flutter, and Logan breathed an involuntary a sigh of relief, not even realizing that he'd done so.

"Wha' happened?" She questioned, looking up at him, feeling dazed. 

"The trailer blew up." 

"How?" Marie asked, confused, blinking and trying to get her bearings.

Logan frowned, a bit worried, "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Tellin' yah that yah should buckle up." 

"Well, we had an accident and we got attacked."

"Are yah al'raght?" She asked quickly, her eyes looking him up and down, trying to check for signs of an injury on his person. 

Logan stared at Marie in shock; no one had ever asked him that before. Furthermore was the fact that the first question out of her mouth when she'd discovered they'd been in an accident, was out of concern for him, "I'm fine. Got shot through the window, but I heal fast." Logan shook off his astonishment, and put his bad-tempered exterior back up, "Let's get movin' kid, it gets dark real fast in these parts."  

She stood up with his help, brushing off the snow, "Ah told yah tah wear yur seatbelt."

Logan didn't reply, he just started walking. Rogue gritted her teeth against the pain she'd experienced in her stomach from standing up, but didn't let the nausea she was feeling get to her. She just silently began following. 

**** A few hours later ****

The gray sky had gotten much darker, any source of light would soon be gone, but still the two trudged on. 

Every now and then Rogue would silently stop, grab her stomach, and take a few deep breaths. The pain had begun to get to her, but she couldn't trouble Logan. He already hated her for stowing away in his trailer, being an even further nuisance wouldn't 'endear' her to him either. 

**** 45 minutes later ****

They were just in sight of a cave off in the distance, when Logan heard a sharp gasp behind him, then the girl moaned, and fell to her knees. Logan spun around and saw the girl had fallen to the ground, and was throwing up . . . the pure white snow was stained red and the sharp metallic scent of blood filled his nostrils. 

Logan rushed to her side. 

"Ah'm sorry." She whimpered. 

Logan immediately scooped her up into his arms and ran to the cave where he could examine her fully. Gently, he laid her down on the floor, shrugged of his coat, rolled it up, and put it underneath her head. He searched the cave a bit, and found he was in luck. The cave must have been used as a hideout periodically, because he'd found some dry wood in the back. He quickly started a fire. 

In the glow of the flames, he could make out that her face was flushed and he focused all his enhanced senses upon her. He could identify a fever, pain, there was guilt just radiating off her . . . and worst of all, the blood. He noticed she was clutching her stomach, just where the seatbelt would have been. 

"Shit." Logan cursed himself under his breath. They'd been in a serious accident and an explosion, and he hadn't even **_asked_** if she was all right once she'd regained consciousness. 

He crouched down by her side, she looked up at him with feverish, glazed over eyes. 

"Yah know," She gasped, "Ah always thought Ah'd die of starvation eventually, not something like this . . . . . Ah just wish Ah'd made it to Alaska."

"Don't talk like that kid. You're not going to die." Logan shook his head, "Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?" He demanded.

"Because there was nothin' yah could do." She revealed to him, a startling look of acceptance gracing her face. It disturbed Logan to see a girl so young so accepting of death. Her eyes began to close. 

"Hey, I did not pull you out of that damn truck to have you die on me now. Don't go to sleep Marie." 

"Ah can't help it . . . Ah'm so tired." Her head fell to the side, and her breathing grew shallow. 

"Kid? Kid! Marie, wake up!" Logan grew panicked, and at last began to assess her injuries. 

He lifted up her shirt to see her stomach, which she had been clutching, and winced when he saw the darkening bruise across her stomach from the seatbelt. He had wondered at the time why she'd sounded so breathless after the accident, and mentally kicked himself for having brushed it off as the result of fear.

Logan didn't know what to do, and he hated feeling helpless. She most likely had internal injuries, and possibly a concussion.  They were many miles away from the nearest doctor, let alone a hospital. 

He had some limited medical training from, some-where, so he reached out to see if her stomach was hard, which would indicate blood in the belly (_a.k.a. internal injuries such as a ruptured spleen or something_). 

The moment his fingers attempted to probe her stomach, he felt a . . . pulling. He watched in astonishment as the bruise on her stomach disappeared, and quickly realized that she was, very painfully, sucking the actual life out of him!

Marie's eyes suddenly snapped open, and she pushed him away. He fell down, unconscious, onto the ground where she'd previously lain, his body convulsing, as she scrambled into the corner. 

Marie clutched her head, unable to deal with all the emotions, memories, and sensations of Logan's enhanced senses assaulting her. She curled up into a ball and started rocking.        

**** Many hours later ****

Logan slowly opened his eyes, feeling quite weak. He swiftly worked out what had happened, and shot up, looking for the girl. He immediately became aware that her coat had been laid on top of him. Logan sensed her frantic heartbeat in the corner of the cave, far from the dying fire. 

She was muttering to herself as well, "Ah killed him, Ah killed him. He was jus' tryin' tah help me. Ah'm poison, Ah'm poison, Ah'm poison . . ."

Logan could smell terror, disgust, and remorse coming off her in waves. 

Cautiously, he approached her, "Kid, kid I'm ok." 

"He's never goin' tah wake up."

"Kid, I'm fine. You didn't hurt me Marie."

"Shut up in there! Get out of mah head!" She clawed at her head with her hands, pounding at her scull.

Logan grimaced, then carefully kneeled down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Marie's head came up sharply, and she scrambled away.

"No." She whispered, "Yur dead."

"Kid, you didn't kill me. I'm fine. You just knocked me out for a while."

"Really? Yur not another illusion?" 

"No, it's really me. In the flesh . . . . That's one hell of a power you got there kid." Logan noted, raising an eyebrow. 

"No shit bub." Her eyes grew wide and she clapped a hand over her mouth, "Oh mah gosh! Ah'm sorry! Ah hate it when that happens."

"When what happens?"

"When someone Ah absorbed's personality takes center stage."

"Huh?"

"It means that Ah become like you dumb ass!" Again Marie clapped a hand over her mouth.

"You mean, you have my brains, in yours?"

She nodded weakly, "Yur memories, yur training, yur feelings, yur powers. Ah get everythin'."

"How long does it last?"

Marie shrugged, "Depends."

"On what?" Logan demanded, sitting next to her. 

Marie leaned again the wall, "Oh lot's o' things. How long we touched, whetherin' yur human or mutant. How frightened Ah am. If Ah'm unconscious . . . . If Ah'm really scared, it gets really strong. It will kill a human in a matter of seconds. And if Ah kill them, their up there," she pointed to her head, "permanently. At least with humans it is . . ."

"How do you know?" He questioned gruffly.

"Experience." She answered quietly.

Logan wasn't the touchy-feely sort. He had no idea what to do in this sort of a situation. He figured that since she was a girl, she'd want to talk, so he cautiously offered, "Want to . . . you know . . . talk about it . . ."

"Hell no!" She answered quickly, she steeled herself back up, "Just like yah don't like tah talk about the first five years, Ah don't want to talk about the eight months Ah've been on the road."

"Fair enough." Logan quickly agreed, feeling relived. He decided a change in topic was needed, "So, how long you got my powers for?"

"Ah don't know. Ah absorbed a lot. Weeks, months, maybe even years, Ah haven't had that much experience, luckily."

Logan nodded, then stood up, putting his coat on, "It's lightenin' up out there. Let's get a move on."

He handed Marie her coat, and they went back on their way. 

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~

After having walked for a few days, Logan and Marie had finally stumbled upon a town. It was a bit bigger than Laughlin, but not by much. 

Not long before the town, Marie suddenly stopped short and covered her ears protectively, "Fuck!" 

"Kid, what's wrong?" Logan questioned concerned. 

"All that noise. Especially that crackling/humming noise." She moaned

Logan realized immediately what she was being tormented by and had a solution, "Just concentrate on my voice. The noise will fade away and become just background." He assured her, pulling her hands away from her ears.

After a few moments, she breathed a sigh of relief, "What is that Logan?" she demanded as they started walking again. 

"Electricity."

"Ah never knew electricity was so damn loud."

"Only when you have our hearing. And watch you're language."

"Hey, yur the one who gave me these traits. Can' help it if the word just happens to _slip_ out." 

"Oh don't give me that Marie. That's crap and you know it." He growled. 

"Fine. Al'rahght Logan, Ah'll make yah a deal. Ah'll try tah cut back on the swearing, ifn' yah promise to start trainin' me how tah defend mahself."

Logan growled again in frustration, then nodded his head, "Deal. You should learn how to defend yourself if you're goin' to be traveling with me anyway."

Marie ran to catch up with him, "Yah want me tah keep goin' with yah?"

"Someone's gotta look out for you." He told her gruffly, then walked a bit faster. 

**** Several months later ****

The two had soon settled into a comfortable routine. They'd gone back for their trailer, then quickly moved on.

The duo would travel around Canada, moving from town to town, earning money as they went.  First, they would scout out their new town, looking for places where Logan would have the most profitable fights, and then find a, hopefully clean, motel to stay at. 

Marie would head to a grocer and stock their 'new' truck/camper with supplies, buy some new gloves to replace the ones she ruined along the way, and then use the laundry mat to wash their dirty clothes while Logan scoped out the bar scene, pretty much announcing that the Wolverine was in town, so he could draw in bigger crowds. 

At the places where Logan fought, Marie would usually take a job as a waitress at the bar. 

As a result of Logan's training and the reflexes she'd gained from Logan's touch, Marie was almost as elite a fighter as the Wolverine, though Logan would rarely let her fight. It took lots of begging, and a several moments of giving him doe eyes to get him to give in every time she had the urge to beat the tar out of a bunch of rednecks. 

After a couple weeks in a town, more often less time, then they would move on and start the process all over again in a new place. Their restless natures never let them stay in one place too long, plus after awhile, the drunks of the towns just got tired of getting the crap beaten out of them by the same guy, and the fights slowed.  

Logan was also helping Marie slowly learn how to control her powers. As a result, they were up to 20 minutes. But she could still use it immediately if she needed to. Unfortunately, or fortunately, (_depending upon how you looked at it_) a resulting side effect of their continued experimentations was that Logan/Wolverine was now a permanent-integrated part of Rogue's psyche. Marie didn't mind, so Logan tried to not let it torment him much, not that it did a lot of good. The nightmares that she'd also gained bothered him, as did the razor-sharp-bone claws that now shot out between her knuckles at will. Despite the fact that she protested that it didn't hurt, much, it still bothered him. Although it had answered his question on whether his claws had come from the examinations those bastards had put him though. [_This is a fact based upon the comic verse. I looked it up. His claws were an original part of his mutation._]

He'd had to laugh when Marie had tried to lighten his mood after he'd found out about the side effects by saying that she was just thankful she hadn't grown extra hair all over the place like him. 

Everything was going very well, until Terrace, British Columbia. That's when their trouble finally caught up with them. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Please, I want replies, I know it sounds pathetic, but I live for feedback, good or bad! I need to know what you think so I know where to go with this.

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	2. New People

_~ Author's Note: It's now about March, just to let ya know! ~ _

**Alternate Courses**

_By Jules_

**_Chapter   2_**

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The day had started out like any other that fateful day in British Columbia . . . . . . . . 

Marie slowly woke up in the late-morning as usual, and got out from under Logan's arm. The two had discovered early on, that they didn't suffer nightmares when they slept in the same bed, so Logan and Marie had begun doing so every night for months now.

She stumbled through the motel room, to the bathroom, into the shower and stood half-asleep under the intense spray, letting the falling water wake her up. 

Marie eventually located her shampoo bottle, poured a generous amount into her hands, and began lathering her hair. While it was still soapy, she brushed through it, making sure every strand was cleaned, then finally she rinsed out all the shampoo. Next she used her favorite deep conditioner, which she had to let sit for two minutes. 

While her hair was being enriched with vitamins, she found her Blissful Blackberry body wash and began washing her curves and then she shaved her long legs. 

When she was finished washing, she rinsed out her hair, brushed through it to make sure all the conditioner was out, and stepped out of the shower. Marie carefully wrung out her hair out over the tub, then wrapped the long auburn-brown locks in a towel and began to dry her body off with a second one. 

The well developed girl pulled on the matching dark-green bra and thong-panty set she had brought into the bathroom with her, then slipped on the white silk embroidered kimono Logan had gotten her, (_in some illicit way that she that did not want to know the details of_) and let her hair come down from the towel. She wiped the slightly foggy mirror with her towel, and began smoothly brushing her hair. 

Marie loved her hair. It was the only thing that had stayed in her life, unlike her traitorous skin. Her long, thick, soft brown hair had always been there. Before her evolution into a mutant, bedtime had been her favorite part of the day. That was when her mother had gotten out her grandmother's brush set, and she would brush Marie's hair, 100 strokes every night without fail. Then Marie's first kiss happened, and Momma never brushed her hair after that. Marie paused mid-stroke at the thought, she took a deep breath, and pushed the painful memories out of her mind, dwelling on the past only brought pain, so Marie didn't allow herself to do so. She sighed, then began brushing again, never losing count. 

Marie still brushed her hair 100 strokes every morning, and before she went to bed. No matter how late (_or early as it would be these days_) she and Logan were coming in; no matter how exhausted she was, Marie brushed her hair. 

Once she'd reached her customary amount of strokes, she set down the brush, and picked up her Blissful Blackberry body lotion. Marie squeezed out a large amount into her hands, rubbed them together, warming the lotion, then slowly applied to each arm. 

She heard rustling in the other room, and knew Logan was finally waking up. Marie had left the door ajar so that the steam wouldn't fill the bathroom during her shower. She could hear him walking around, so she put her seduction plan into action. 

Marie had begun to feel attracted to Logan shortly after meeting him. Who wouldn't with those finely toned muscles, wild hair, amazing hazel eyes, and he had an ass that just wouldn't quit, not to mention how he was so protective, and the fact that she was the only person in the world he gave a damn about and felt the need to look out for made her want for him even more.  She'd tried to send him signals, but their brief power-activated-touches every now and then let her know he hadn't caught on yet. 

Due to the Logan in her head, she knew he was a leg and breast man. 

She poured another copious dollop of scented lotion into her hand once more and slowly began to apply it to her left leg, letting the robe fall open slightly. 

A slightly strangled sound in the other room, to which she showed no reaction, let her know her plan almost certainly was a success. 

Logan woke up slowly once more, having woken somewhat when Marie got up an hour ago.

He stretched in the bed, then he got up, scratching his stomach, yawing as he padded over to the chair with his bag to change out of his flannel bottoms that Marie had gotten him because she refused to sleep with his groady jeans, which he was changing back into. 

He stopped short in astonishment when he saw Marie putting lotion on her legs through the cracked bathroom door, which he knew she left cracked open when she showered. With the delicate fabric of the robe falling open like it was, he could really see now how long her legs were. The sight of her creamy white thigh enthralled him.

Logan lost hold of his jeans, which he'd just picked up, when he saw her open the robe, revealing what she wore under the robe, which included a bra in which Marie's large, voluptuous breasts were straining against their lacy confines. When she started applying lotion to this expanse of skin, he nearly lost it. And as soon as she finally brought her hands down to her taunt stomach, moisturizing all the way down to the top of her thong, his jaw dropped and his eyes glazed over, his mind in an uproar. 

Suddenly, Marie wasn't some little girl he needed to protect; she was a woman, a beautiful young woman . . . who he wanted badly. 

Thankfully for his self-control, right before he lost it, she finally retied her robe, and left the bathroom. Logan snapped out of his trance and hurried into the area that she'd just occupied, to take care of his large, rapidly rising problem. (_Hint hint_)

Marie smirked as the door slammed closed behind him. 

**** Around 2 am ****

Logan had just completed another night of fighting. He and Marie were leaving the bar, arguing about the last guy he'd knocked out. 

"Liar! Yah went easy on the guy Logan!" Marie insisted.

"I did not Marie." He protested, fighting a grin, "I just didn't give it my all. I knew the fight would be an easy one, so I didn't waste my energy."

"Oh pulease sugah, like Ah'm goin' tah believe . . ." She stopped short, and was silent. 

Logan looked down, and smelled fear radiating off her, "What's wrong darlin'?"

Marie was staring at their truck, the creature that had attacked them was sitting on the hood, "Logan, it's him . . ." she whimpered. 

Logan's head whipped up, and he finally saw what had frightened his Marie. 

"Go back inside Marie." He quietly ordered. 

"No Logan. Ah'm not leavin' you out here alone. Ah can protect myself. Ah won't go."

Logan knew that she wouldn't, and he sighed resignedly, "Alright, but if I go down, you are to take off your gloves and start running."

"Whatever . . . oh Gawd. He sees us." She warned him, taking off her gloves already. 

The colossal man had finally caught sight of the two from down the road. He began stalking over to them. 

Logan released his Adimantium covered bone claws and steeled himself for battle, cracking his neck.  

The two quickly engaged in a deadly dance in which, for once, they both had a worthy opponent. 

Marie watched the two animal-like men fight, in terror, wincing every time one of their enemy's blows landed on Logan. She was so captivated by the scene she didn't notice the snowy weather abruptly growing to a greater degree in severity. 

As she watched, Sabertooth finally got in a lucky shot and dug his claws into Logan's stomach. Then he backhanded the feral man, causing the Wolverine to go flying, finally crashing on top of a car, and he lay still. 

"Noooooo!!!!!" Marie shrieked. 

Bone claws shot-out of her own hands, and she attacked the wild man. Her mind went blank, she became like Wolverine in berserker mode. All she could think about was killing the man who'd harmed her mate. 

She was able to actually exchange blows with him for a few moments, but his large size and superior strength soon overwhelmed her. He blocked her swing, but she threw up her other fist and managed to sink her claws into his shoulder. 

He growled in pain and tossed her down, she landed on her butt. Marie flipped up, and was crouched down, about to pounce on him when bright red energy blast sent him flying down the street. 

Marie whipped her head around for a moment, to spot who'd interrupted, she allowed her own claws go back in, and saw a man and two women dressed like idiots in, what appeared to be, black leather body suits. She quickly turned her head back in the other direction, only to find the man who'd attacked them gone once more. 

Marie cursed, and then hurried over to Logan, who had still not moved a muscle. 

The trio followed her. 

Marie looked at Logan, distraught. She had no idea what to do. She ran her fingers through his hair as tears filled her eyes, "Logan, sugah, wake up." She whispered. 

The three in black finally caught up and she turned about abruptly, hearing their approach, "Ah don' know who y'all are, but if yah take one step closer, Ah won't be held responsible the consequences of mah actions."

"Please, calm yourself." The male requested, "We're the X-men, the good guys, and we're here to help you. I'm Scott Summers, my code name is Cyclops. I'm a mutant, like you two."

In that moment, Marie knew she and Logan's simple life had just disappeared with the wild man. 

The young man continued, "These two are my associate, Ororo Monroe, and my fiancée, Dr. Jean Gray. The man who attacked you, his name is Victor Creed, code name Sabertooth, he's an enemy of ours as well."

"The enemy of mah enemy is mah friend." Marie softly quoted, then sighed, "That means yah've got 60 seconds tah tell me what the hell yah want 'fore Ah take him and leave."

"I know this is very confusing, but we can explain everything better at the Institute, where we live. It's too difficult to do it out here, someone could come out and see us."

"And the sight of three strangers looking like idiots in black leather, next to their favorite cage fighter is not going to promote any sympathy from anybody here. So talk faster." Marie warned. 

Jean could sense the girl was frightened and confused, but most of all concerned for her friend, so she spoke up, "We can help you there, protect you. We also have a wonderful medical facility there . . . . Please, will you trust us?"

"No . . ." Marie immediately answered, then cocked her head, "But there is a way for me tah. Let me briefly touch one o' yah. It'll drain yur powers a bit, but if what y'all's sayin' is true, Ah'll know it."  
  


The three looked at each other, Storm looked beseechingly at Scott, who finally gave a slight nod.

"I will do it." Storm offered. 

Storm held out her bare hand, and Marie touched it just enough to feel the rush start, then Marie quickly pulled away. Strom was left feeling very weak, but still conscious. Marie's eyes flashed white for a second, shocking the three before her, and then she nodded her head. 

"Y'all are on the level. We'll go with yah, for now."

"Good." Scott acknowledged. 

He started to go to pick up the unconscious Logan, but is stopped by a small, but oddly strong hand on his shoulder. 

"Yur kiddin', rahght? Yah don' actually think yah can lift him, do yah?"

"He's not that big . . ." Scott protested, feeling emasculated that a teenage girl didn't think he could lift a small man like Logan. 

"No, he might not be, but he'd all muscle, and he's got metal grafted to practically every bone on his body." Marie then proceeded to carefully pull Logan down the hood, placed her arm under his, around his back, and with her other firmly pressing against his chest, propping his frame up, "So, where'd yah park?"

The jet ride back was pretty much silent. Marie didn't speak, she just watched Logan, looked for the slightest sign of moment so she didn't have to pretend to be strong anymore. 

**** Westchester, New York ****

**** Hours later ****

**** Dr. Jean Grey's lab ****

Marie, Jean, and Logan were alone in the lab, and after 15 minutes of silence, Jean finally asked a question. 

"So, what are you're names?"

"Don' y'all already know? Ah mean, if yah came to protect us and all . . ."

"All we knew was that Sabertooth had contacted his boss the other day telling him that he'd found _them_, and was going after _them_ again today. We tracked him to where we found you, and the rest you know."

"Oh . . . well, Ah'm Rogue, he's the Wolverine." Rogue carefully answered, continuing to play with Logan's hair. 

They were quiet a minute, then Jean ventured again, "So, how long have you been away from home?"

Marie sighed, then boosted herself up on the other med bed, "Well, tha' depends on what yur definition o' home is."

"True, your family then."

"Wolverine _is_ mah family, at least we're the closest thing tah family we've got now."

"I see. And your parents?"

Marie looked straight at Logan as she spoke, "The first boy Ah ever kissed went into a coma for three weeks, Ah was 15 . . . . Mah Daddy kicked me out three days after the boy woke up, and he told them all it was mah fault. So Ah started to head for Alaska. 

Ah was on mah own for eight months before Ah met up with Wolvie in Laughlin City. That guy, Sabertooth yah called him, attacked Wolverine's truck after Ah'd forced him tah give me a ride . . . . Ah don't remember how Ah got out of the truck before it exploded, just Wolverine wakin' me up . . . . Ah was hurt bad, but Ah didn't tell him. Ah knew there wasn't anything he could do . . . Ah just didn't wanna tah die alone." She told Jean softly, suddenly needing to get all this out, Logan wasn't a big talker, "Ah finally collapsed just a bit away from a cave, to which Logan carried me. He tried tah help me, but there wasn' anythin' he could do. He was checking mah injuries when he finally saw mah stomach. Yah see, when we crashed, apparently the seat had been forced forward and the seatbelt had hurt me real bad."

Jean paled a bit at these words, knowing what kind of injuries could have arisen. 

"Ah was unconscious, but Ah guess he touched me. Ah had warned him earlier, told him he couldn't touch mah skin . . . but Ah guess he didn't listen. So he tried to assess how bad it was by touchin' mah stomach with his bare hands . . . . Suddenly Ah was all fixed, Ah had a new psyche in mah head, and he was unconscious on the floor next tah me . . . Ah thought he was dead, but luckily, his mutation kept him alive . . . . We've been travelin' together ever since." Marie finished, rubbing her knuckles, a trait she'd picked up from Logan.

Professor Charles Xavier finally made his presence known, "And you've been traveling together for five months since then, unknowingly evading Sabertooth the whole time due to your restless natures."

Marie jumped up, having missed sensing him because she was so caught up in her tale. She stood protectively in front of Logan, "How do you know that?"

~_Everyone here has their special gifts._~ He told her telepathically. 

"And yur's are telepathic, stay out our heads Wheels." The Logan in her demanded, "The mind is a private place."

"Of course. I apologize. I just did a background check to ensure the safety of my school and the children entrusted in my safekeeping. I am Professor Charles Xavier, the creator of the X-Men. Welcome to my home."

"Ah know who yah are, what this place is, and as for why yah were there, right now, Ah don't care."

The professor simply raised an eyebrow, but continued to try and get some information about Sabertooth from her. 

Awhile later, the Professor had given up hope of trying to get any more information out of, Rogue, as she insisted, not revealing her, or the muscular man's true names. 

He was about to try and as one last question when he noticed Marie try to cover a yawn. 

"Ah, you must be tried. I apologize for neglecting that you've had a hard day. I'll have Ororo show you to a room . . ."

"That's ok." Marie quickly interrupted, "Ah'm not leavin' his side."

"She can sleep on the other med-bed Professor." Jean offered. 

Xavier nodded his approval, "If you insist Rogue. But we must talk as soon as your travel companion awakens."

"If that's what he wants, we will . . . but what about all our things? Ah wasn't able to grab anything before that big ass jet brought us here. Everything we own in the world is in that trailer and motel room."

Xavier indicated agreement, "I will make arrangements to have them brought here immediately." Then he rolled out of the room. 

Jean turned to Marie as soon as the doors closed behind the professor, "I'll lock the door behind me so you won't be disturbed. Only Scott, Ororo, Professor Xavier and myself are able to get in here when it's locked, so you're safe."

"Thank you Dr. Grey." 

Jean smiled kindly at the girl, "Get some rest Rogue."

Jean dimmed the lights, then left the room. 

Once Marie was positive they were gone with her enhanced senses, she hopped off her bed, and pulled up Logan's sheet, and curled up next to him on his. The familiar sound of his steady heartbeat soon lulled her to sleep. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Please, I want replies, I know it sounds pathetic, but I live for feedback, good or bad! I need to know what you think so I know where to go with this.

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	3. Excuses

Alright, just to let everybody know.   
  
I haven't been working on this because I've been having these really terrifying nightmares, in which Wolverine kills me for reasons unknown. I'm sorry, but for right now, I just can't work on Alternate Alternate Courses until the nightmares stop. I'm hoping that if I'm not stressing about figuring out the next scene, they'll stop. I'm sorry! I'm hoping I'll be able to update soon otherwise.   
  
Acacia 


	4. What's Happening

Ok, just to let everyone know, at the end of the year, I kind of had a sort of break down. Everything in my life just got to be too much and I just couldn't handle it all anymore . . . so I kind of took a few steps south of reality, right before I was supposed to be going to school too! LOL!   
Boy were my parents pissed . . . . then when they realized I wasn't faking it, a little freaked out.   
  
ANYWAY, I've kind of backed off of a lot of things, writing these fics being one of them. if you haven't noticed, there are a lot of them, and most of the programs I don't even watch anymore. I was just continuing them out of obligation . . . so I'm going to stop writing most of them.   
  
I really don't know what I'm going to keep writing and what I'm not. At the moment, I'm just not doing anything. Sorry. I am so sorry. My doctors and I are working very hard to find me proper treatment and medications for my problems, because it turns out that after all these years, I'm actually bi-polar, and the meds are making me sick too. Plus it's my Senior year, I'm applying to colleges, I've got a mess of projects, my dad just lost his job, AND to top it all off my ex-boyfriend just got out of prision after a stint for blowing up some guys car . . . . . . needless to say, my life is a mess.   
  
Can you all forgive me? Please? 


End file.
